Brent Colbert, who described himself as a part-time hacker and is partner strategy manager for Microsoft NZ, tells Chris Gardner his favourite gadget is the Bushnell Range Finder V2.

What's your favourite gadget?

Using one of the GrabOne Deals, I rejoined Pupuke Golf Club on the North Shore in Auckland last year.

Getting back into the game, I was shocked to see a lot of golfers using range finders on the course, which, at first, I thought was akin to cheating and not in the spirit of the game. However, after trailing one of my mates, I was soon hooked (no pun intended).

For any golfer, knowing the exact distance from your ball to the hole is invaluable information that has the ability to shave strokes off of your score and improve your handicap along the way.

After a bit of research looking at the differences between the smartphone apps versus the Range Finder units, I settled on the Bushnell Tour V2 Pinseeker rangefinder.What do you mainly use it for?

In terms of features, the Bushnell has a Pinseeker mode which allows you to line up the flag on the green and get the exact distance.

It provides 5x magnification through the view finder, which is great for picking out objects up the fairway, especially on doglegs when you are looking to hit the right club.

In terms of setup, it was easy and I set it to metres or yards. It is accurate out to over 914 metres, which should be ample for any hole, despite how far left or right you have hit it.

While getting the precise distance to the flag is great, being able to measure distance to objects in the fairway, hazards is even better.

In terms of my pre-shot routine, I now measure to the front of the green, the face of the bunker I have to clear, then aim it at the pin and then look to land the ball halfway in between the two.

So assuming one bounce and a bit of spin, hey presto, I've got another birdie lined up assuming the swing was executed as planned, which, to be honest, is still a work in progress.

It is reassuring to know the exact distance to certain objects, the pin, the tree, the hazard, the tee block that you've just hit from – to measure how far you've actually hit the ball.

The increased confidence standing over the ball with the correct club in your hand is great.

I would recommend it to anyone, either a scratch golfer or a weekend hacker. You won't be sorry.

If you're in the market for one of these great devices, make sure you buy one that is allowed to be used in tournaments. The ones that measure the slope, wind speed and humidity levels are banned from tournament golf. However, if that's not a concern, fill your boots and get all the hi-tech help you can.What would you change to make it better?

It requires line of sight to your target – the only advantage of GPS when in a gully or behind trees.

It uses batteries, so I now carry spares just in case mid-round she dies on me. (I'd be lost without her.)